ArabishWay

Set of Experimental Short Films: Measures of Longing: Streaming
2023-04-06 - 2023-04-09 | Virtual
This set of experimental short films explores the connections between language, memory, and home. While inseparable elements for some, for others they pose the very obstacles preventing them from connecting to their identities. With this in mind, the filmmakers question how language shapes our memories of home and––inversely––how our recollections of the past are sculpted by the mother tongue we did (or did not) learn to speak. The films are poetic in form and content and take us on a journey from the coasts of Egypt to the water wheels of Hama, Syria to an abandoned family home in Baghdad. They beautifully weave images of texts, nature, cityscapes, and personal archives to convey a perpetual longing for a life that could have been.

About the filmmaker:
Randa Ali is a writer and director working between Los Angeles and Cairo. She is a 4th year MFA candidate at UCLA’s directing program, where she is a recipient of the Hani Farsi scholarship, a full-ride award to female filmmakers from the Arab world. Randa’s work often explores themes of alienation, defeat and the desire to connect in a continuously changing world. She is interested in telling stories of individuals through their relationship with their cities. In 2022, Randa was a recipient of the Delia Salvi Memorial Award for Directing the Actor. She is currently in post-production for her latest short film, Mango, and in development for her first feature film project, Gigi. In addition to making films, Randa was a journalist in Egypt for nearly 8 years.

Marhaba at the Burke Museum
2023-04-06 11:00 - 12:00, 2023-04-06 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Burke Museum, 4303 Memorial Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98195, United States
April is Arab American Heritage Month
Marhaba or مرحبا is ‘hello’ in Arabic
All are welcome on this guided journey through the museum to learn more about how Arab inventions and research have shaped our lives.
Learn more about other events celebrating Arab American Heritage Month. Download flyer.

Arabic Chat Hour
2023-04-06 19:00 - 20:00, 2023-04-13 19:00 - 20:00, 2023-04-20 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
Whether you’re a native speaker or learner, this is a great chance to practice listening and speaking in Arabic!
Zoom room number provided upon registeration.

Social Hour (in-person) - Arabic Language Meetup
2023-04-07 18:00 - 19:30 | Optimism Brewing Company, 1158 Broadway, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
It’s been a while since we got together in person.. join us and say hi, whether you are fluent in Arabic or just interested in the culture!

Journey to Nubia: The Land of Gold
2023-04-08 13:00 - 14:00 | Highline Heritage Museum, 819 SW 152nd St, Burien, WA, 98166, United States
A cultural presentation & story-sharing by Nubian artist and Co-Director of the Nubian Foundation, Nabra Nelson.
Part of our celebration of National Arab American Heritage Month.

Moroccan Community Iftar
2023-04-08 19:30 - 21:00 | Northgate Community Center, 10510 5th Ave NE, Seattle, WA, 98125, United States
Moroccan Community Iftar
w/ WAMA (Washington American Moroccan Association)

Eat like a Sultan! Cooking In The Muslim Medieval Ages
2023-04-09 06:00 - 08:00 | Virtual
The Arabic culinary tradition is one of the oldest and most prolific in the world, with an output totalling over four thousand recipes across ten known extant culinary manuals from al-Andalus in the West, to Cairo, Aleppo and Baghdad in the East, and spanning a period of five hundred years, between the 9th and the 13th centuries.
In addition to dishes, there are recipes for beverages, condiments, pickles, as well as hand-washing powders and perfumes. The talk will provide an overview of this tradition and discuss some of the salient features of this rich culinary legacy.
Presented by: Prof. Daniel L. Newman, Chair of Arabic, Director of Studies at Durham University
Hosted by: Karen Shannon, Chief Executive of Manchester Histories

Community Gathering on Rachel’s Birthday and Twenty Years of RCF
2023-04-10 18:30 - 21:00 | South Bay Grange, 3918 Sleater-Kinney Rd NE, Olympia, WA, 98506, United States
On Monday, April 10th, the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice will mark Rachel’s 44th birthday with a celebration of the foundation’s 20 years of work in the Olympia community, Gaza, and beyond – and with a look to the future. Hear from our community, from those who have worked with us, and from those who have lived the issues the foundation addresses. The event will feature:

Dessert, tea, and coffee
Voices from RCF, from Olympia, from our region, and from Gaza
Open Mic
Connections with Partner Organizations
Dancing with the Seattle-based Jafra Dabke Team

Whether you’ve been with us on our twenty-year journey or want to learn more, we invite you to join us at this community gathering, Monday, April 10, 6:30-9:00 pm, at South Bay Grange, 3918 Sleater Kinney Rd NE, Olympia, WA 98506.

Remember and celebrate!
Please note this event is in-person, free, and open to the public.

Stories to Broaden Understanding: Diana Abu-Jaber
2023-04-11 16:00 - 17:00 | Virtual
Author Diane Abu-Jaber will be taking about her newest book, Fencing with the King.

Born to an American mother and a Jordanian father, Diana Abu-Jaber now teaches writing and literature at Portland State University in Oregon. She is the author of the highly-acclaimed memoirs Life Without a Recipe and The Language of Baklava as well as the novels Crescent and Birds of Paradise. Abu-Jaber will be talking about her newest book, Fencing with the King, which has been described as a “mesmerizing breakthrough novel of family myths and inheritances.”
In partnership with Montgomery County Middle Eastern American Advisory Group, Office of Community Partnerships and Baltimore Luxor Alexandria Sister City Committee.
Registration required. As part of County Government, MCPL does not collect personal information other than for the purpose of providing programs or services.
The Zoom link to participate in the program will be sent to registrants 24 hours before the event.
NEW: You will need to be signed into Zoom to attend this program via the web.
To sign in, you must first create a free account: https://zoom.us/signup
Once you are signed in on Zoom, return to this page and click on the link below to join the program.

Poetry Workshop on Arabic Poetry Forms
2023-04-11 17:30 - 19:00 | Virtual
Workshop Description
Depending how you say it, “ghazal” is either a gazelle or a type of poem. So if you really wanted to, you could write en-DEERing poetry with us! In honor of April’s commemoration as National Poetry Month and Arab American Heritage Month, this BrainTrust explores some traditional and contemporary forms and styles found in MENA and Arab American poetry.
Instructed by Nadia Alamah

The Palestinian Bakery with Nadia Tommalieh
2023-04-12 18:00 - 21:00 | the Pantry, 1417 NW 70th Street, Seattle, WA, 98117
Sfeeha yafawiyeh is a traditional Palestinian pastry made with dough that is rolled thin, stuffed, twisted into a spiral, and baked with olive oil. These little twirls are a showstopping addition to any feast, and in this class Nadia Tommalieh will teach you how to make traditional Yafawiyeh dough and a variety of savory and sweet fillings. On the menu: sfeeha yafawiyeh (spiced beef and onion-stuffed pinwheels); yafawiyeh bil jebneh wa za’atar (akawai cheese and zaatar-stuffed pinwheels); and nabulsi tamriyeh (pocket pastries stuffed with semolina pudding, fried and dusted with powdered sugar and pistachios). You’ll enjoy your freshly made pastries with khiar bil na’na (yogurt mint sauce) and salatet jarjeer w shamander (arugula, beets and pine nuts salad with olive oil and pomegranate molasses dressing).

Narrative w/ For Us, With Us, By Us - لنا، عنّا، معنا
2023-04-13 07:00 - 08:00 | Virtual
By For Us, With Us, By Us – لنا، عنّا، معنا
Farah, Nadia, Naïma and Nadia will be discussing how they interweave narratives from the SWANA region into their diverse practices.

Comedian Sammy Obeid
2023-04-13 20:00 - 21:30 | Laughs Comedy Club, 5220 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States
Lebanese-Palestinian American, born in Oakland California, Sammy Obeid double majored in Business and Mathematics at UC Berkeley and then turned down a job at Google to be a comedian. Now the host of 100 Humans on Netflix, he’s also appeared on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and America’s Got Talent, as well as TBS’s Conan, and is best known for his world record of performing comedy 1,001 nights in a row, a story featured in both Time Magazine and The New York Times.

Ramadan Iftar for Palestine Refugees with UNRWA USA
2023-04-15 17:30 - 19:00 | Tanoor (Seattle), 803 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA
Be sure to reserve your seat!

What are we fundraising for?

Every day, Palestine refugees, especially bright young women, are forced to give up their dreams of higher education. Education is an essential part of lifting refugee children out of poverty.
Let’s help get these high performing students the education that they deserve and dream of. Special guests to be announced soon . . . stay tuned!

Tanoor Restaurant
803 Dexter Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109

Can’t attend? You can still donate and support!!

Whisk: Street Foods of the World II
2023-04-15 17:30 - 20:00 | Whisk, 10385 Main St, Bellevue, WA, 98004, United States
Added by popular demand…more street foods!
Want to expand your culinary passport? Are you looking for a new dish to spice up your repertoire? Do you dream of tasty treats on foreign streets, but haven’t been able to get away? If the answer is yes, this class is for you! Join Chef Drew Flanders for this hands-on experience where you will prepare simple but flavor-packed dishes inspired by foods sold in markets, festivals, and by street vendors around the world. Travel from Lebanon to Mexico to Singapore, while you prepare and enjoy a variety of flavors and textures. Come travel with us!
Make, eat and enjoy street foods from:

Lebanon – Grilled Lamb Kofta Skewers with fluffy garlic sauce
Mexico – Chicken Tinga Pambazos
Singapore – Stir Fried Chili Prawns

Street food is always best with a beverage, option of enjoying wine or beer.

Joan Maloof The Secrets of Trees at Town Hall
2023-04-18 19:00 - 20:30 | Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, United States
Standing in an old-growth forest, you can instinctively sense the ways it is different from forests shaped by humans. These ancient, undisturbed ecosystems are increasingly rare and largely misunderstood, but American environmentalist Joan Maloof knows these forests intimately and has been studying and writing about them for decades. In the newly revised and expanded edition of her book, Nature’s Temples: A Natural History of Old-Growth Forests, she continues to deepen our understanding of these extraordinary ecosystems.
Maloof brings together the scientific data we have about old-growth forests, drawing on diverse fields of study to explain the ecological differences among forests of various ages. She describes the life forms and relationships that make old-growth forests unique — from salamanders and micro-snails to plants that communicate through fungi — and reveals why human attempts to manage forests can never replicate nature’s sublime handiwork. She also sheds new light on the special role forests play in removing carbon from the atmosphere and shares what we know about the interplay between wildfires and ancient forests.
Joan Maloof, Ph.D., is a powerful spokesperson for our nation’s forests — sharing information about their extent and condition and encouraging their preservation. Maloof is the author of Nature’s Temples: A Natural History of Old-Growth Forests. She also founded the Old-Growth Forest Network, an organization that is creating a network of protected forests across the U.S. Maloof is a professor emeritus at Salisbury University where she taught Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies. She is the author and four books in addition to Nature’s Temples: Treepedia; The Living Forest; Among the Ancients; and Teaching the Trees.

*I’m guessing she’s Arab due to her last name but I could not confirm.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: The Rabbi's Cat at SIFF
2023-04-22 11:00 - 12:30 | SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N,, Seattle, WA, 98109, United States
**Potentially problematic, red flag for me = movie based in Algeria but uses colonial language French**
The story of a rabbi and his talking cat – a sharp-tongued feline philosopher brimming with scathing humor and a less than pure love for the rabbi’s voluptuous teenage daughter. Recommended for ages 12+.

International Children's Friendship Festival
2023-04-22 11:00 - 18:00 | Seattle Center – Armory, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA, 98109, United States
An event that is run by children and features performances by children. Various nationalities are represented through music, folk dancing and art. The children celebrate their international friendship through experiencing the rich tapestry of the world’s cultures.

Stop by the ArabishWay table to “make” mamool and play Arabic bingo!

My Name! My Voice! Workshop
2023-04-22 13:00 - 15:00 | Highline Heritage Museum, 819 SW 152nd St, Burien, WA, 98166, United States
From Koloud the organizer:

I have received a 4Culture grant to host a My Name! My Voice! art workshop. This is to coordinate with my art piece, Sul.tˤa, being hosted at the Highline Heritage Museum for April’s Arab American Heritage Month. It was inspired by a minbar and holds over 200 Arabic names of local children.

Since it is a free workshop, I would like to offer if first to refugee men & women who are more in need of art therapy. Participants must be 16 and up due to the types of tools we will be using.

The workshop is open to 30 participates and if anyone in the community is able to help register any refugee adults and get them to the event, it would be fantastic.

We will have Arabic language helpers and all participates will take home their art supplies.

https://highlinemuseum.org/event/my-name-my-voice-workshop/

International Children's Friendship Festival - Day 2
2023-04-23 11:00 - 18:00 | Seattle Center – Armory, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA, 98109, United States

Arab board games at Mox Boarding house Cafe
2023-04-23 16:00 - 18:00 | Mox Boarding House – on Leary, 5105 Leary Ave NW, Seattle, WA, 98107, United States
Let’s bring this winter weekend to live in this get together to play boardgames at Mox boarding house cafe. This place is amazing and has street parking available. Best of all it’s free on Sunday.
The Cafe offers hot and cold beverages and light food. They have a 100s of board games to choose from.
Bring your best game and let’s go for it together.

West Coast Swing Dance Event — Earthquake Relief Fundraiser
2023-04-23 18:00 - 23:00 | OmCulture, 2210 N Pacific St, Seattle, WA, 98103, United States
Join us for a night of West Coast Swing and helping us raise funds to donate to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. MILLIONS of people are now homeless in freezing temperatures and are in need of immediate humanitarian aid.
100% of all funds raised will be donated to our earthquake relief fund! This fund will be split evenly and donated to the two organizations listed below who are currently on the ground in Turkey and Syria giving aid.
Turkish Philanthropy Funds — https://www.tpfund.org
Syrian American Medical Society — https://www.sams-usa.net
WHAT TO EXPECT AT THIS EVENT: A beginner West Coast Swing group lesson (no experience required), social dancing and entertainment, AND a Jack & Jill Contest with awesome prizes! All happening to raise funds and awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Syria and Turkey.
DJs: Sam Lingane & Za Thomaier!
Jack & Jill Contest Judges:
Chief Judge Wren Newman, Kate Garboden & Rebecca Savoca!
We have had some generous individuals provide options for prizes for our Jack & Jill Contest which we are so grateful for! Some of these prizes include free passes to Ben Morris’ Jack & Jill O’Rama Event in June, as well as private lessons from local Allstars, dance shoe gift certificates, admission to local dances, and more!
SCHEDULE:
5:45 PM – Registration opens
6:00—6:45 PM – Beginner West Coast Swing Lesson with Tandy Lucas!
6:45—8:30 PM – Social Dancing!
(8:00 PM – Jack & Contest Registration ends)
8:30—9:30(?) PM – Jack & Jill Contest!
9:30—11:00 PM – Social Dancing, announce JnJ winners + prizes, thank yous, etc.
Finish at 11PM!

SUGGESTED DONATION AMOUNTS:
$500 — $250 — $100 — $50 — $25
(If you donate any of the above suggested amounts, your general admission and JnJ Contest Entry fee below are also included)
General Admission — $10 per person
Jack & Jill Contest Entry Fee — $10 person
100% of all donation amounts, including general admission & JnJ contest fees, will be donated to our earthquake relief fund! I will be posting how much we raised and then donated in order to be completely transparent with where these donations are going.
SHORT ON CASH? We are in need of a few volunteers to help with take-down & clean-up after the event in exchange for free admission to the dance for those who would like to come but can’t “swing” the price! If interested please DM Tandy Lucas via messenger or email at tandyshimai@icloud.com.
CANNOT ATTEND BUT WANT TO DONATE?? We would GLADLY and GRATEFULLY accept more donations! Please DM/email Tandy Lucas for options!
I am SO grateful to have so many who have been willing to donate their time and services to make this happen so that 100% of the funds raised can go directly to the cause! I will be highlighting them as we go along as well as posting educational content about the crisis. Thank you again everyone for your love and support for these people in need!

Inclusion Talk Series: How Does It Feel To Be A Problem
2023-04-25 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual
Join Compass Family Services as we honor and commemorate Arab American Heritage Month (AAHM) with a seminar from author Moustafa Bayoumi.
Moustafa is the author of the critically acclaimed How Does It Feel To Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America (Penguin), which won an American Book Award and the Arab American Book Award for Non-Fiction.

Movie: Nine Parts: PBS Broadcast
2023-04-26 - 2023-04-30 | Virtual
Film available for screening through April 30, 2023

Nine Parts – PBS Broadcast
A film by Mike Mosallam, Heather Raffo and Nilou Safinya
Streaming on PBS – Watch now!
Uprooted after her father’s death during the pandemic, an Iraqi American woman attempts to grieve at the site of the oldest Iraqi Church in North America. What starts in profound isolation, becomes communal as Iraqi women, ordinary and extraordinary, come to her in spirit and ancestry with their personal stories of love and resilience. Together, they offer a celebration of the Iraqi female experience and an explicit warning – the divisions Iraq endured are not unique, Iraq is a bellwether for America now.
Nearly 20 years ago, 9 Parts of Desire premiered to widespread acclaim on London stages and Off-Broadway, later becoming a global theatrical phenomenon. Now, Heather Raffo adapts her multi-award-winning solo play about Iraqi women for the screen and for our current time. From Iraq to Michigan, Raffo transforms into a wide cross-section of Iraqi women in her inspiring exploration of love and grief within countries undone by division, violence and loss.
Watch an interview with Heather Raffo and AANM Public Programming Coordinator, Fatima Al-Rasool, on PBS NewsHour about the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Heather Raffo is a singular and outstanding voice in the American theater whose work has been championed by the New Yorker as “an example of how art can remake the world.” Having helped forge a new genre of Arab American theater, she’s spent her career writing and embodying stories of Iraq: from the lives and dreams of Iraqi women in her seminal work 9 Parts of Desire (2003), to the suicidal ideation of an Iraq war veteran in the opera Fallujah (2012), to the restless longings of an Iraqi refugee architect in Noura (2018). A multi award-winning writer and actor, she’s toured nationally and internationally: from the Kennedy Center to The Aspen Ideas Festival and from London’s House of Commons to the U.S. Islamic World Forum. Her newly released anthology, Heather Raffo’s Iraq Plays: The Things That Can’t Be Said, brings together two decades of her most groundbreaking contributions to the American theater and speaks to the bravery required to be at the forefront of a movement. Her newest Migration Play Cycle, her most ambitious theatrical imagining in scale and scope, situates themes around migration and the global economy. Being raised in the Midwest and the daughter of an Iraqi immigrant, Raffo has committed her artistic practice to working across all kinds of borders: on mainstages and in rural communities; with the military and in the Arab world; in swing states and in refugee facilities. She is uniquely positioned to explore what migration means for an ever-evolving American and global identity. Photo credit for headshot is: Satya Tisman Photography

The Falafel Stand
2023-04-26 18:00 - 19:30 | the Pantry, 1417 NW 70th Street, Seattle, WA, 98117
For the love of fresh bread, falafel, hummus, and everything in between! In this class Nadia Tommalieh will teach you how to make a traditional “sandweishet falafel” (falafel sandwiches) that will have you convinced you’ve traveled to the Arab world to eat them. You will learn about the different falafel variations of the region as she shows you how to get the perfect puff on your homemade khobez (pita bread), and how to achieve flavorful, crispy falafel every time. This super delicious street food sandwich is never complete without a layer of fresh smooth hummus. You will top your piping hot sandwiches with tarator (tahini garlic sauce), tatbeeleh (jalapeno lemon sauce), Mkhalal left (pickled turnips) and salatah Arabia (Arabic style tomato and cucumber salad).
Please note: some classes can be adjusted for students with dietary restrictions, but many cannot. If you’re vegetarian, pescatarian, or gluten-free, you can use the drop-down menu on our events page to view the best classes to fit your needs. If a class you’re interested in doesn’t appear in that filtered view, please email us before registering and we’ll see if the class’s menu can be modified.

Movie: Jaddoland: Streaming
2023-04-27 - 2023-04-30 | Virtual
Synopsis: JADDOLAND explores the meaning of home and the search for belonging across generations. When the filmmaker returns to her hometown in the Texas panhandle to visit her mother, an artist from Iraq, she turns her lens on her mother’s increasingly isolated life, as well as the beauty and solace that emerge through her creative process. Soon, the filmmaker’s charismatic grandfather arrives, still longing for the homeland he recently left. While the shadow of geopolitical and historical forces looms on the periphery, the filmmaker searches for unexpected moments of meaning in the everyday, subtly weaving threads between past and present, her mother’s work and her own. In doing so, she draws an artful and deeply intimate portrait of one family reimagining its relationships to the places they call home.
We are thrilled to present creative and award-winning documentary JADDOLAND, this month on the Arab FIlm Series online!

Online Screening: April 27-30
Free / $5 suggested donation
RSVP at arabfilmseries.org
Available in North America

Program includes a pre-recorded Q&A with filmmaker Nadia Shihab
Jaddoland, Nadia Shihab, USA, 2018, 90 min.
English

The Arab Film Series online is a monthly program of films and discussions with artists and filmmakers from the SWANA region and its diasporas, presented by ArteEast in partnership with the Arab American National Museum and Arab Film and Media Institute.

An Evening Celebrating Arab American Authors
2023-04-27 15:00 - 16:00 | Virtual
Join us on Thursday, April 27 at 6 p.m. ET on Zoom as we celebrate the vibrant Arab American creative community during Arab American Heritage Month with a panel of three phenomenal authors: Reem Assil, author of Arabiyya; Sarah Cypher, author of The Skin and Its Girl; and Malaka Gharib, author of It Won’t Always Be Like This.

The conversation will be moderated by Lana Barkawi, Executive & Artistic Director of Mizna, a critical platform for contemporary literature, film, art, and cultural production centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. Assil, Cypher, and Gharib will discuss their books—a cookbook, a novel, and a memoir—the ways we celebrate heritage, grappling with perception and misperception, and the varied homages to lineage, love, and resilience from across the diaspora.

When you register for your free ticket to this conversation, you will also have the option to buy any of the featured authors’ books from our independent bookstore partner, Moon Palace Books, based in Minneapolis, MN.

Sign up to reserve your spot today. We can’t wait to see you there.
